7 HBO shows to look out for

Nathan Olivieri

Stephen Merchant's Hello Ladies stand-up show has inspired a new series.

It's no secret there is something in the water at HBO, with the American network continuing to hit the zeitgeist bullseye over and over again.

However, there has been little new material coming our way from the cable giant of late; the last being the critically panned but guiltily pleasurable The Newsroom, the second season of which has just started airing in Australia.

So it raises the question: what will be the next pop culture phenomenon to hit our screens (and then shortly after be lampooned on Community)?

The last big thing coming our way from HBO was the critically panned but guiltily pleasurable The Newsroom.

First, a short disclaimer. Nothing is sacred in the world of television bids and pipeline shenanigans. Deals are made and retracted faster than an Aaron Sorkin-penned sparring match, and certainties are non-existent. Months of development were cast aside when HBO passed on the Darren Aronofsky-directed WWII drama Hobgoblin, and even when word leaked of their supposed six-season adaptation of Neil Gaiman's fantasy saga American Gods, the author swiftly denied anything had been approved.

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But the following are pretty sure bets.

True Detective

Actor Matthew McConaughey to team up with Woody Harrelson. Photo: Reuters

Written on spec (industry-speak for "for sale") by former literature academic Nic Pizzolatto, the buzz for this ambitious series moved mountains when it was first shopped around earlier last year. Having off-screen pals Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson attached to star certainly helps, and HBO pounced quickly, securing the rights amid a fierce bidding war.

With a multiple-layered narrative, the show bounces across interweaving time frames, tracking the plight of two detectives hunting a serial killer in Louisiana over seventeen years, but only eight episodes of television.

HBO last mined the detective genre with the excellent The Wire, though early accounts pit this as more experimental in nature. It is brave storytelling - Pizzolatto has compared it structurally to a two-man play – and deliberately high-concept. The format was devised as an ongoing anthology, with each subsequent season to focus on new characters, a new setting and a new crime.

Chris O'Dowd, right, with Tom Bennett in Family Tree.

Jane Eyre director Cary Fukunaga will direct the entire first season, while Pizzolatto has bypassed a writer's team and penned every word of the season himself.

In an HBO nutshell: The rural angst of Deadwood meets The Wire.

When we will see it? Production for the series' first season wrapped in late June, with an air date slotted for 2014. A morsel of a teaser trailer was released last month.

The Leftovers

HBO cottoned on to this one early, snapping up the rights to adapt Tom Perrotta's 2011 novel before it was released publicly.

The book drops us into a small suburban town three years post-Rapture, after the evaporation of millions across the globe. It charts the lives of those who remain. Perrotta acknowledged the book alone would only sustain a fraction of a television show, and so has joined with Lost co-creator Damien Lindelof, a man who knows something about serialising a morality tale, to flesh out the story with new characters and plotlines.

Other high-profile names have since been attached, including director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) and actors Liv Tyler, Justin Theroux and Christopher Eccleston.

In an HBO nutshell: The small-town relativism of Big Love meets the existentialism of Six Feet Under.

When we will see it? While pre-production stretched out considerably, the show was officially greenlit for a pilot in February, currently shooting in the town of Hastings, New York. Pending its success and a series pick-up, an air date next year seems likely.

Lorimer

While the series is still officially untitled, this half-hour dramedy following the lives of a trio of thirty-something gay men in San Francisco (New York has run its course) is based on Michael Lannan's eight-minute short film Lorimer. Lannan will write the script under the supervision of former Brothers and Sisters showrunner (swanky term for executive producer) David Marshall Grant. Early press releases and studio announcements are spruiking it as an exploration of the complexities of contemporary gay life.

Casting was announced in May, and features Jonathan Groff - who some may remember as Glee nemesis Jesse, who had a penchant for belting out show-tune versions of Bohemian Rhapsody and Highway to Hell – as well as Aussie Murray Bartlett, of Neighbours fame.

In an HBO nutshell: Many pundits have been touting it, perhaps reductively, as a gay Girls, but it will surely be more complementary than copycat.

When we will see it? The project has moved past the pilot stage and been handed an eight-episode series order. Filming is scheduled for spring this year in San Francisco, with a tentative 2014 air date.

Silicon Valley

It was only a matter of time before someone decided to tackle the comic gold mine that is the high-tech world of Silicon Valley. Still untitled at this point, the project is the brainchild of the trio behind '90s animated comedy King Of The Hill, and stars a mixture of established and stand-up American comics as hackers, engineers and software developers.

While few specifics are known, the show has been long trumpeting its ironic premise that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success".

In an HBO nutshell: The affluence (minus the lazy work ethic) of Entourage meets the irreverence of Funny or Die.

When we will see it? Filming for a pilot took place in Palo Alto in March this year, with the show since given a full-series order. However, no further filming or air dates have been publicised.

On the near horizon

Family Tree

Christopher Guest's single-camera mockumentary about a thirty-year-old slacker (Chris O'Dowd) retracing his family lineage debuted to positive reviews but soft ratings a few months ago, not enough to ensure an express broadcast in Australia. Here's hoping it makes its way to our shores eventually.

Clear History

On the telemovie front, HBO regular Larry David co-writes and stars as a marketing exec who resigns just before his company makes it big on a billion-dollar idea, and 10 years later must come face-to-face with his old boss. The revenge comedy also stars Jon Hamm, Bill Hader and Kate Hudson, and will premiere next month.

Hello Ladies

Gangly comic Stephen Merchant - co-creator of The Office and Extras – goes Gervais-less as a Brit trying to tackle the dating scene in Los Angeles. The show, which is loosely based on Merchant's stand-up show of the same name, debuts in late September. A hilarious teaser was released last month.

43 comments so far

Yes, I'm sure all will be fantastic...but sadly with the way we receive content, it's hard to imagine we'll ever see them, or see them in any timely fashion. If you don't have Foxtel's overpriced, inflexible service and with the inability for broadcast networks to get their stuff together, there's only one way we're likely to see any of these shows...illegally. It's the sad result of poor service.

Our TV industry is in a sad state of neglect. Understand the market. Service it. It's not hard.

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mattanderson05

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July 27, 2013, 3:01PM

Have you never heard of pirate bay?

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lacebug

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July 27, 2013, 3:54PM

One reason I'm happy I move to Denmark, HBO Nordic ;)

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lucas.m.griffin

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July 27, 2013, 5:48PM

Quickflix has a whole section devoted to HBO series. It Australian, legal and affordable. I'm sure the new HBO series will be on there pretty quick.

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bob

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July 27, 2013, 8:12PM

Depending on your cable provider in the US, HBO costs between $15-$20 a month. In Australia we pay $32 for the only way to get Showcase. We need competition in the pay TV landscape. But there are plenty of other legal avenues to watch the show. Quickflix charge $2.99 SD or $3,49 HD an episode for HBO shows - full seasons can be bought for just under the cost of 10 episodes.

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Anthony

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Logan

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July 28, 2013, 9:27AM

yeah like lacebug said Pirate Bay is just one of the sites catering for TV shows.

Coming UpRevolution already finished season oneCopper Into second seasonContinuum Also into second seasonDefiance finished first seasonDevious Maids still in first seasonOrphan Black finished first seasonVikings,, Vicious, The Fall all finished first season

All good shows if not great but not a sign of them on our screen yet Revolution is slated for nine but when? maybe at least 3 months away and theres more coming in sept on the yanks schedules. We are so far behind but have to put up with this reality crap from all the channels so how come the channel execs put on this reality crap that doesnt work here time to change the channel to channel internet and get away from the ads

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BarbC

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Melbourne

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July 28, 2013, 10:36PM

"Quickflix has a whole section devoted to HBO series. It Australian, legal and affordable. I'm sure the new HBO series will be on there pretty quick."

They won't be; Foxtel bought out the rights for all future HBO series. You won't even get season 4 of Game of Thrones on Quickflix or iTunes next year.

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Jace

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July 29, 2013, 1:09PM

All of these shows are written by men, produced by men, starring men and are about men. How exciting.

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barney

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July 27, 2013, 3:09PM

Yep, it stems from men having to try harder to get noticed by women - sublimating sexual desire into comedy. art, music, literature, screenplays, etc. If we didn't have so many women to impress there wouldn't be any of this male creativity. We'd just drink and fart.

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mint slice

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sydney

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July 27, 2013, 4:06PM

Mint slice is right, women can complain when they actually write scripts and movies directed at women - not just be pissed off that men haven't written scripts directly for them.These things don't happen by magic - and when it's forced it doesn't work.